week 10 Flashcards
(26 cards)
USSR: (1922-1991) union of 15 republics had the goal of building egalitarian communist society, transcending linguistic and ethnic differences
- established in 1922
- goal was to build a society where no one could exploit another person, and everyone worked for the common good
- dissolved in 1991
- communist party
- russian: de facto dominant language
Diglossia in the USSR
- Russian = high language, used in gov, international relations, military
- higher education, science
- better education (more resources), better jobs
- considered more cultured, more advanced
non-russian languages like Armenian, Kazakh, Ukrainian = low language
- considered backward, of limited use, less developed, not prestigious associated with peasantry
- folk culture, songs
- politically risky
Diglossia: High language; Low language
- 2 or more coexisting languages (bilingualism) with diff language roles/functions
- high language: prestigious, official, formal
- low language: low prestige, unofficial, informal
Soviet policies of Russification, through privilege and direct intervention
- holodomor (death by hunger) extermination of Ukrainians by hunger (artificial famine) to break resistance to soviet regime, millions killed
- system of privileges in favor of russian
- direct manipulation of Ukrainian language to make it more like russian (blacklisting specific letters, words, dictionaries revised)
The fall of the USSR in 1991: 15 countries declared independence, declared titular state languages first
- 1990: each of soviet republics declared its titular language as the official state language
- closer to ideal 1 language = 1 nation model
- both pratical and symbolic separation
- cement independence from Russia
- effort to raise low status of titular language relative to russian
Ukraine: location, basic demographics in terms of ethnicity & native language
- language use patterns are shaped not only by east/west also urban/rural
Kyiv vs. Kiev, in Ukraine vs. in the Ukraine—the politics of place names
- kiev = had been “conventional spelling” (closer to Russian pronunciation)
- Kyviv = approved spelling of the US board of geographic names (Ukrainian pronunciation)
Lexicon, lexical distance
- overall lexicon is 38% diff from russian
- 18% similar
- 44% same
Forces shaping the relative statuses of Ukrainian and Russian in Ukraine
Non-accommodating bilingualism
- everyone free to speak whichever language they prefer
- no matter what language others are speaking
- everyone expected to be at lease passively bilingual
language choice is political
- it is a security issue
- russian is language of enemy and been used to justify invasion
- promoting Ukrainian helps fend off russian aggression: patriotic duty
Role of language in processes of independence & nation-building in Ukraine
Transparency & politicization of language in wartime in Ukraine: opposed tendencies: “language choice doesn’t matter” vs. “language choice is a security issue”
- Putin says he is protecting Russians and Russian speakers, as if the need to learn Ukrainian infringes on Russians’ rights in ukraine
- russian language became symbol of foreign occupation
- ## Putin denies Ukrainian as a language
Language issue in Euromaidan protests & ongoing war between Ukraine & Russia
- movement for human rights and democracy, against corruption
- started in nov 2013
- ukraine regions where russian language dominates are fiercely resisting russian invasion
constructing independent nationhood
possible areas to find legitimacy:
- language/culture
- religion
- civic/political allegiance, political system
- history (as a separate country)
- future (desired identity, belonging)
Purism vs. “impure” or “mixed” languages; reasons for purism
- anti-surzhyk
- initial post-independence period
- low confidence in authority and authenticity of language
Surzhyk (what is it, and attitudes towards it)
- language that mixes Ukrainian and russian standards
- pejorative term, associated with social marginality (lower class, lacking education)
- high degree of bilingualism
in pop culture:
- portrays lowness, depicts Ukrainian identity as ridiculous, vulgar, and crass
mixed languages
Reasons for linguistic conversion in Ukraine
- people construct their nation through themselves
- an ideological choice
- physically embodied choice: speaking is a physical activity
- freedom to shape one’s expression vs. the freedom of expression of one’s native language
Ukrainian vs. russian
- legacy of imperialism: rhetoric of superior vs inferior culture
- violent suppression of Ukrainians
- disdain of Ukrainian as unworthy
- Ukrainian language as means of survival - reclaiming dignity
- Ukrainian symbolic of freedom; russian symbolic of authoritarian violence
shibboleths
- custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class/group of people
- ï graffiti: symbol of resistance to russian occupation
11/29/23
19
ï :monument to a unique
Ukrainian le@er
ï grafitti: symbol of resistance
to Russian occupation - Ї and Є: both letters in Ukrainian that are absent in russian means I exist/I is
2019 law
- ensuring the functioning of Ukrainian as a state language
- required in public (not in private)
special consideration for crimean tatar and other indigenous languages
non standards in pop culture
- have revolutionary power, defying corrupt leadership and status quo
